Atlanta hopes to Sale away from the Pirates with a series win
When I wrote about Chris Sale a month ago for a game preview, his Statcast looked like this against his 2024 performance.
I mentioned at the time that, while he was getting worse results than he probably should, that we needed to lower our expectations for the rest of the season if we didn’t see the stuff perk back up. So a renewed look at his Statcast …
And things look a bit better this turn around. The velocity has bounced back to where it was last season, and the results have improved. His ERA went from near 7 to around 4. His K/9 is up to 12 when it was 10.5. And his overall results are getting back to the xFIP and xERA being around the number you see above. It’s not exactly 2024 yet, but as the summer heats up, we’re also starting to see Chris Sale heat up.
On the other side taking the hill for the Pirates is Carmen Mudslingski … Midsizeski … Mlodzinski. He has a bit of a pedigree as a competitive balance pick right after the first round, but he’s really getting his first taste of being in the rotation full-time in the majors. His ERA currently sits at 6.16, but the metrics have him more in the low-to-mid 4s. Either way, that puts Sale in the driver’s seat for this matchup.
Mlodzinski is going to come at Atlanta Braves hitters with a bevy of pitches.
But Statcast doesn’t really think much of him, in total.
Stuff+ metrics are a little higher on him, with a 114 for his sinker and 107 for the slider while the change-up sits around league-average. He might be in a spot where he uses too many pitches, and he might benefit from going against the grain in terms of modern pitching, which tries to stretch out the arsenal. Either way, Mlodzinski throws hard, but the overall package is fairly meh.
All of that is good news as the Braves try to take the series this afternoon.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Sunday, May 11th, 1:35 a.m. EDT
Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
TV: FanDuel Sports South, Southeast, MLB Network (only out-of-market)
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan